Check it out! I WON something awesome =)

Saturday night I went to the Redline Running Club's bi-annual potluck and WON the ROTHY =) 

Redline Runner

Of

The 

Half

Year Award!!

I can't believe it.  I am not quite sure why they picked me.... but they did and it made my whole day! I won something and I have the totally awesome shorts to prove it.  I plan on putting these puppies on and debuting them shortly.... stay tuned.

Thanks Redliners. Our club is amazing.  The peeps I train with are super motivating, inspirational and very fun to be around.  We all share a total obsession with running and have been able to build a support system through this club.  We really are a team and I just couldn't be happier.  YAY to our coaches Josh,  Doug, and Kim for putting up with all my crap and making me realize that I can be better.

Below is a lot of my fellow Redliners right after our Predict a 5k workout.

For the predict a 5k workout each individual picks a time that they will complete the 5k in.  We are not allowed to wear watches, music, or anything else that might give us a sense of what pace we are running.  All we get is to listen to our breathing and hope that through all of this training our bodies can recognize what pace we have chosen.  We weren't allowed to pick our actual 5k pace either.  Seeing as how I have the marathon coming up in 1 week, I chose my marathon pace.  Some chose what they would consider there 10k pace and others just picked a pace they figured they could feel.  And so as results went, the person who was the closest to there designated pace won, and the furtherest away lost. It was way fun and I highly recommend doing one on your own every so often to see how in tune you are with what pace is what.  Great workout =)

Also, I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to my brother James.  I sucked him into coming coming to Lifetime with me for 1 week to show him how crazy hard the classes were. So because he loves me he agreed and although Barbell and Total Conditioning kicked both are A**'s (literally, these classes are tough) he ROCKED it.  I was proud to be his little sis. 

So James, you are joining right =) 

This Pic was taken right after Total Conditioning class.  We were wiped out. Apparently doing 150-200 pushups with variations that include loads of mountain climbers, bear crawls, jumps, lunges, leaps, turns, body bars, bands....and the list goes on and on will wear you out.

and P.S. my Friday Night BBQ chicken sandwiches were delish.  Sweet potato, watermelon and roasted green beans for sides.... I love food.

Anyone else out there in a running club?

If so, have you ever won anything as cool as these shorts!?!

Who else is running Grandmas? We'd love to meet up!

What is your favorite Carbo loading meal? and why?

Anyone have a gym class that is crazy hard?

I find they are few and far between but for some reason I am lucky enough to live right next to the Lifetime fitness that employs a lot of there regional peeps including instructors.  These people are the ones they send out to train all the others.  I feel lucky.

Happy Running - Jen

The Pull-Up Challenge

CAN YOU DO IT?!?!

 Grabbing the bar...

Come on, come on, come on, OUCH, oh this sucks. Don't touch the chair! Oh but I want too!!!

Dam that girl from P90X. She makes these look so easy.....I want to die. Why can my husband bust these out! Crazy men and there upper body strength!!!

VICTORY! I made it. Seriously I am having a hard time knowing I can run 26.2 miles and can barely do 1 pullup....and actually, after I took this photo I was so frustrated I could only do 1 that I went back down there and did 2 more! YES for being stubborn and forcing myself to suck it up. 

Can you do a pullup?
I can do 3, barely. and not without breaks in-between.

How many can you do?

Should we make up some kind of a pullup challenge?

I wonder if I will be sore tomorrow, good luck and give it a try. -Jen

Jens Saturday =)

This past Saturday I had a 22 miler to run. (I originally was supposed to run Thursday but the rain was just too much, and there was NO way I was doing this on the dreadmill) I was volunteering at the 5k Families Supporting Adoption race and then I had a golf date with my hubster scheduled..... BUSY day.

Well, I got almost all of it finished except the golf.  It rained.  Anywhoo, in order to get all of this done I had to wake up at 3AM people.  Thats right. It was early. My little boy Peter was staying at his cousins for the night so it I had my hubster run the first 7 or so miles with me.  It was still pitch dark then and I am kinda scared to run that early by myself......

I had him take a picture of me because typically when I run early I am the only one around and so he graciously agreed and when he was finished I was like, "so did I look cute?" he was like, "for sure" but obviously he had not cleaned the sleep out of his eyes because this picture of me suks. But who cares. I had been wanting an early bird picture of me for a while so at least I finally got one. Oh and that is my beastie dog Grisz who I do love but is kind of annoying to run with......

Then after the run, (which felt pretty good I suppose. I stopped by running club and thought I'd attempt to do the workout with them in the middle of my 22 but ended up making my way home early because the thought of so many more miles mixed with lots of speed just wore me out). After the run I busted it home changed clothes and rode my bike over to the drink station I was to be in charge of for the adoption 5k. It was SOOO much fun =) The course was not easy and it was so inspiring to see all these people out supporting a good cause.

The arrow is pointing to me cheering people on =) I do realize I was supposed to help with the drink station but cheering for people was just TOO much fun.  Thanks Jarrie for holding down the drink stop while I wandered.

It was cold and then it started to sprinkle so instead of golfing we decided to go to the mall eat to lunch and wander.  I am so happy Dan (my hubster) does not mind going to the mall and just seeing whats out there =) Growing up as a family we did this lots and I don't know why but I find it comforting..... So I wandered into the Gap and found some cute shorts for only 25 bucks and was in line to purchase.  But after waiting for what seemed like an eternity I bailed.  Too bad for The Gap....

Then after browsing the mall we did the next best thing and went to one of my local running stores. Yep, below is a picture of me sporting my new arm warmers. I actually wanted to buy some for my run Saturday but ran out of time, so although I am not sure when the next time I will need them is I know I eventually will and that was reason enough.

I also purchased my new favorite refueling tool, Cherry Lime flavored Roctane.  Its is FAB, just as good if not better then the Jet Blackberry GU..... give it a try I say.

Anyways, it was a great Saturday and now onto this week.  Here is my workout for this week if anyone wants to join me.

Today: 5 Miles slow
Tuesday: 10 Miles with tempo (2x2 miles at 10k pace with 5 minute recovery followed by 2x1 mile repeats at 10k pace with 3-4 minute recovery)
Wednesday: Swim class (YAY) and hopefully some Yoga
Thursday: 18 miles with 12@ marathon pace
Friday: I dunno yet, probably practicing my swimming and some yoga.
Saturday: Match and Move Fartlek....not sure what this is, I will show up to running club and find out I suppose.


Happy Running -Jen

Too Many Choices?

So this fall is coming up and I have not yet chosen a marathon to run. If I were able to run all the marathons I want I would need pretty much all the money in the world and an entire lifetime.  Every month when Runners World magazine shows up on my doorstep I find at least one more marathon I would like to run.

Let's see.... there is the Rock'n'Roll marathons that are all over the country, the Disney Goofy Challenge, the International California Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Twin Cities Marathon (seeing as how I am from MN), the Scranton Marathon (I am a BIG fan of the TV show, The Office), NYC, Boston(hopefully someday...), Marine Corps. marathon. And really I could also go International: Paris, London, Sydney...

(If I do make it to Sydney some day, I'd love to go to the opera house and take a tour. I would also like to see some great white sharks and definitely visit the Australia Zoo to see Steve Irwin's Family.... Whose with me?!?)

Listed below are a few of the marathons I am considering for this Fall/Winter. Let me know if you know anything about them. Did you run it? How was it? Were you well taken care of? Was it hot, cold? Really any information you have concerning them would be greatly appreciated.

Arizona Rock'n'Roll
Myrtle Beach Marathon
International California Marathon

Also, on a side note. Today I went for my 2nd 20 miler for this upcoming marathon. I am happy to say it felt WAY better then the last one. Of course, the last one I ended up coming down with the Flu that same evening so I was really hoping this one would feel better. I also decided to do the last 16 miles at marathon pace. I realize this many miles at pace can be debatable... but I am over it, I needed a good boost of confidence.  So if I don't run as fast this Saturday at club, who cares.....

Also, when I was running the last two miles I was asking myself these types of questions.

Could I hold this pace for 6 more miles?
How are my legs?
How is my breathing? (I was very aware of my annoying breathing the entire time because I ran the whole thing with NO headphones.... although I had friends with me up until the last 2 miles=) YAY for friends. I love you guys)

And I came to the conclusion that I might actually be able to hold it. But then again, you never know. I am sure my mind will get the better of me at points but hopefully all this training, practicing and whatever else will come in handy and help me get through it.

WHO KNOWS!!!! I guess we shall see and I am sure you will all hear about it when I finish ;)

Happy Running -Jen

Yasso 800s to the Test

Last weekend my sister Jen told me about the Yasso 800s.  Since I have come back from my injury I felt that I have been running slower and breathing harder.  Things that runners don't like to do.  I really do not like working on speed but decided that if I wanted to get back where I was before my injury I would have to incorporate it into my training.

Yesterday I woke up feeling great and headed out for my Yasso 800s. To give you a run down, the goal is if you are shooting for an 3:30 marathon, you will run 800 meters at 3 mins 30 secs and then rest for 3 mins and 30 sec.  Doing this 10 times.  Little did I know that you were supposed to work up to 10 but start out with 4 or so.  But back to the matter at hand.  I did a slow 3 mile warm up and then hit the track.  I didn't even hit 3:30!  Boy was I out of shape! I had trouble pacing myself, I didn't want to go to fast the first lap and then the second lap I found myself trying to speed up to get to my goal which was not happening.  But I felt that I did a great job, especially since this was my first time.  So Bart Yasso says do this once a week about 2 months before the marathon and you are in.

This is my challenge to myself!  My goal for the Savannah Marathon in November is to run a 3:30 marathon.  I am making it known to the blogging community!  So I am going to take the Yasso challenge.  To start I am going to do this once every other week and then starting in September I will do it every week!  I am hoping that because I am telling you all about it, that I will have no choice but to stick to it!  I will try to post about it every time to give you the run down on how it's going.

These are my splits below (highlighted are the 800s) As you can see I am a little on the slow side but have no fear! I will get there! Oh and I should say that I walk/jogged during my recoveries.

 

This is me after I got back home, salty and smiling just happy that was done.

  

This is the track that I run at close to my apt.

  

My breakfast was greek yogurt with blackberries and homemade granola. (will post recipe soon)

 

My lunch at City Bakery in the city.  I loved the Kale salad and cilantro chicken!

Dinner was de-lish!  I made grilled salmon with brown rice and stir fry broccoli, carrots and zucchini.

And yes I had dessert but did not take a picture.  I ate a small bowl of vanilla ice cream with crushed salty pretzels and chocolate sauce on top :)

So what do you think about the Yasso 800s?  Do you think you will give them a try?

Have you already done them?  Do they really work?

Sorry this post was forever long!
Sarah

Spring Skiing

Last week I was able to go skiing one last time before all the snow melts with some friends.  Copper had just gotten a few inches of new snow and the weather was gorgeous.  It literally was a perfect spring ski day.  For all of those out there with mountains close by I highly recommend going out and taking full advantage.

YAY! for skiing.

Running in the Cold...

Well you all know that I am training for my first marathon.  Yikes.  So far it has been good.  It is not like I have never ran anything before.  The longest distance I have ever ran is 12 miles and I didn't die when I was done.  That being said I HATE running on the treadmill.  I just won't do it.  Which makes a little bit of a problem for me living in the frozen tundra.  So far I have not had to run on the treadmill once.  Yes it has been cold but ok once you start going.  But this last Saturday is was -2 when I headed out!!!!!  FREEZING.  Good thing we had date night, Friday night and headed to my favorite store Lululemon to see what they had that I could wear to run in.  I bought this coat that I am wearing in the pictures above.  It is called the Hustle Jacket.  I have to admit that once I got about two miles into my run I called Bryan and had him meet me at a gas station with more socks.  My feet were the only thing that was cold!  It was really a great run although it was cold it was very peaceful and beautiful out.  I had the trails all to myself.

Cross Training and The Hot Tub

What do you choose for cross training? There are several things that I like to do for cross training.  You can, hike, bike, swim, weights, Plyometrics, Yoga, etc.  It is very important in any training plan to switch it up.  If you use cross training as part of your regular exercise schedule I am 100% sure your overall fitness level will increase.

Part of living in Colorado for me means going skiing every winter.  I have skied my whole life and I love that it can be considered part of cross training. With skiing in the winters comes taking dips in the hot tub.  I literally almost consider the hot tub as part of the cross training!  It totally helps loosen the muscles and warm you up in the frigid winter.

So here is what I recommend...  If you have access to a hot tub I recommend taking a dip every chance you get.  Consider it part of your cross training regime.  Let me know how it goes. =)

Who doesn't agree????  Happy Hot Tubbing!